1. Using the
Cloud
Using Social Software Tools for
Learning & Teaching

2. Social Media
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Which Social Media Tools do you use ?
Choose a smartboard tool and indicate by clicking in the appropriate boxes
You Tube
Twitter
Flickr
Facebook
Wikipedia
LinkedIn
Vimeo
Blogger
Pinterest
Tumblr

3. Social Media
What is Social Media?
Web2.0 Tools
» Changed the way we use the internet
› We were passive consumers
› Now able to contribute / comment without specialist web skills
› Knowledge and data sharing
› Publish in real-time
» Assumes people are always online
› PC/laptop/handheld devices
» Web-based / Browser reliant
» Easy to use
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/social-software/index_html
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4. Social Media
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Snapshot of current uses
ETNA 2012 Key Findings Report
Social Space
Academic
Environment
»Academic Staff Responses
› Most - Social Media enhances the quality of the Learning
Experience and agree students are at ease using it
› Some – Consider Social Media to be a distraction
»Most popular tool –YouTube
› Confident to use to sign post learners to subject
specific content

5. Social Media
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Snapshot of current uses
ETNA 2012 Key Findings Report
» Lagging behind –Facebook; Blogs; Wikis; Twitter
› Facebook – divided opinions
Learners actively use it.
Good to use popular tool for
learning
› e-Safety
Uneasiness around using
personal/non-college tools
with learners

6. Social Media
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Which Social Media Tools do you use with your learners?
Choose a smartboard tool and indicate by clicking in the appropriate boxes
You Tube
Twitter
Flickr
Facebook
Wikipedia
LinkedIn
Vimeo
Blogger
Pinterest
Tumblr

7. Social Media
How are you using Social Media Tools?
Please share your current uses of Social Media in Learning and Teaching
www.padlet.com/wall/social_media1
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8. Social Media
Pedagogical Considerations?
Modernising Learning
» Complementing existing pedagogy
› Social Constructivism – Vygotsky
» Evolving Pedagogy
› Connectivisim – Siemens
» Meeting learners expectations
› People expect to be able to work & learn wherever and
whenever they want
› Use own technologies along with institutional tool
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9. Social Media
Types of Applications
Blogs / Micro Blogs
WIKIs
Social
Bookmarking/Digital
Curation
Social Networking
• Blogger / Wordpress / Elgg /
Typepad
• Twitter / Plurk
•Wikipedia
•Wikispaces / Wetpaint
• Scoop.it / Tumbler / Delicious /
Diigo/ Digg / CiteUlike /
Stumbleupon
• Facebook / LinkedIn / Bebo / Ning

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Blogs
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Online journal - chronological posts - searchable
Commenting facility
Media can be easily incorporated (e.g. video or images)
Excellent tool to encourage reflection
Records distance travelled
A good tool for building up evidence
http://tinyurl.com/rsc-sm-blog

11. Social Media
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Microblogs
• Post small pieces of digital content (max no. of
characters)
• Posts followed (by friends, colleagues, students)
• Instant publication with few restrictions
• Portable tool which feels organic and spontaneous
• Good collaboration and information sharing tool
• Can encourage reflection, peer review with the
potential to enrich learning experiences
100 ways to use twitter in education
http://tinyurl.com/twitter-100education

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WIKIs
• Website which can be edited collaboratively
• A range of media can be incorporated
(text, video, images, hyperlinks)
• All editing is recorded and easy to revert to the previous
version of the wiki
• Good for group activities as changes can be documented
and thought processes recorded
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Social Bookmarking / Digital Curation
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Enables storing, organising & sharing favourite websites
Meaningful keywords added so collections are searchable
Bookmarks can be shared with students or colleagues
Sets of resources can be presented in visually stimulating
ways
http://tinyurl.com/video-scoopit
Images from www.scoopit.com

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Social Networking
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Users create a profile and make it available to “friends”
A network of contacts is built-up
Tools include blog, photo & video upload, IM & chat
Now being used more than email

15. Social Media
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FACEBOOK
Social network
Make connections
Share information/interests
Strengthen student teacher relationships
Useful for collaboration
Group tools
Notification
Discussion
Polling
File sharing
http://www.rsc-scotland.org/?p=2163
101 Ways you should be using Facebook in the classroom
http://tinyurl.com/facebook-100classroom/
Always updated guide to Facebook privacy
http://tinyurl.com/facebook-update-guide

16. Social Media
Benefits
Social Media applications are easy to use and and can be easily accessed
online using a browser
Modernises the curriculum with many already being used by young people Can communicate with students outside class time
Increases choice and the scope for personalisation & learner autonomy
Improves possibilities for deeper & reflective learning
Supports collaboration & communication (tutor to student & student to
student)
Largely free or very inexpensive & inherently scalable
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17. Social Media
Things to Consider
Older people are not familiar with social software services to the same extent
& lack web2.0 skills and attitudes
Learners & staff may not find mixing social and academic spaces desirable
Start with one tool and add others later – Think quality not quantity
Awarding Bodies require to have confidence in systems - Rubrics for assessing
work that use social software tools require to be developed
Use tools to collaborate and communicate with colleagues

18. image from Flickr by opensourceway licensed through cc

19. Social Media
Your future use of Social Media Tools?
Please share your thoughts on how you will use Social Media in future
Learning and Teaching
www.padlet.com/wall/social_media2
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